History

Early days (pre-1916)

The origins of the term "Sinn Féin", according to the Party's
publication, Sinn Féin: A Century of Struggle, published
to coincide with its centenary celebrations, can be traced to the
Conradh na Gaeilge journal An
Claidheamh Soluis. A leading article titled "Sinn Féin,
Sinn Féin" appeared on 27 April 1901, and afterwards as
"Sinn Féin agus ár gCairde" over the advertising section
to encourage readers to buy Irish made goods.

On St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1902, in Oldcastle, County Meath,
members of Conradh na Gaeilge founded Sinn Féin: the Oldcastle
Monthly Review. In a later edition of the Review the
paper commented "While Sinn Féin is in existence it will always
champion the cause of the oppressed against the oppressor and will
be the stern champion of the labouring class."

The early Sinn Féin movement was far from being the organised
political party it would later become. It was initially a community
of like-minded individuals that crystallised around the writings of
Arthur Griffith and William Rooney
who were extremely active in Dublin's nationalist clubs at the
beginning of the 20th century.

In his account of the movement's early years, the writer, Aodh de
Blácam says that Sinn Féin "was not a party: it was the amorphous
propaganda of the Gaelicised young men and women".

Griffith was first and foremost a newspaperman with an impressive
network of friends in the Dublin printing industry. His newspapers,
the United Irishman and Sinn Féin, and his
Sinn
Féin Printing & Publishing Company channeled the enormous
energy of the self-help generation into an unorthodox political
project based on the Austro-Hungarian dual
monarchy of 1867 and the theories of the German nationalist
economist Friedrich List.

Tapping
into the growing self-awareness of an Irish identity which was
reflected in movements like the Gaelic Athletic Association, the
Gaelic League (Conradh na
Gaeilge) and in the founding of the Abbey Theatre, he created a loose federation of nationalist clubs
and associations which competed with John Redmond's Irish
Parliamentary Party to embody the aspirations of 20th-century
nationalists.

Though Sinn Féin had a high name recognition factor among some
voters it attracted minimal support. In August 1909, it had only
581 paid-up members throughout all of Ireland. Two hundred eleven
were in Dublin. By 1915, it was, in the words of one of
Griffith's colleagues, "on the rocks", so insolvent financially
that it could not pay the rent on its party headquarters in
Harcourt Street in Dublin.

The Easter Rising

Sinn Féin was wrongly blamed by the British for the Easter Rising, with which it had no
association apart from a desire of separation stronger than
Home Rule—the leaders of the Rising, who
proclaimed a Republic, were certainly looking for more than Dual
Monarchy. The term "Sinn Féin Rebellion"' was also used by the
Irish media, the Royal Irish
Constabulary (RIC), the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP)
and even by a few of those involved in the Rising.

Eamon de Valera replaced Griffith as
president. On 25 October 1917 the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis for the first
time committed the party to the establishment of an Irish Republic.
De Valera devised the formula of words in the Constitution, as a
concession to Arthur Griffith who argued that, as he saw it,
demands should be kept within achievable limits, and therefore
favoured a monarchy along Scandinavian lines.

Sinn Féin was boosted by the anger over Maxwell's execution of
Rising leaders, even though the Irish Independent newspaper before
the executions, actually called for them. The public sympathy did
not give Sinn Féin decisive electoral advantage. It fought with the
Irish Parliamentary Party
under John Redmond, with each side
winning by-elections. It was only after the World War I German Spring Offensive, when Britain threatened
to impose conscription on Ireland to bring its decimated divisions
up to strength, that the ensuing Conscription Crisis swung
support decisively behind Sinn Féin. Efforts were made to agree an
amicable form of home rule and to negotiate a deal between the
Irish Unionist Party (IUP) and
the Irish Parliamentary
Party, in the "Irish
Convention" arranged by former IUP leader Walter Long in 1917. These
were undermined by his cabinet colleague David Lloyd George and
were not attended by Sinn Féin.

In Ulster Unionists won twenty-two seats,
Sinn Féin, twenty-six and the Irish Parliamentary Party, six (where
they were not opposeed by Sinn Fein). In the thirty-two counties of
Ireland, twenty-four returned only Sinn Féin candidates. In the
nine counties of Ulster, the Unionists polled a majority in only
four.

On 21 January 1919, 27 (35 others were imprisoned and 4
involuntarily exiled and unable to attend) of the Sinn Féin MPs
assembled in Dublin's Mansion House and proclaimed themselves as
the parliament of Ireland, forming the First Dáil Éireann. They elected an Aireacht (ministry) headed by a Príomh Aire (prime minister). Though the
state was declared to be a republic, no provision was made for a
head of state. This was rectified in August 1921 when the Príomh
Aire (also known as President of Dáil Éireann) was
upgraded to President of
the Republic, a full head of state.

In the 1920 city council elections, Sinn Féin gained control of ten
of the twelve city councils in
Ireland. Only Belfast and Derry remained
under Unionist and IPP
(respectively) control. In the local elections of the same
year, they won control of all the county councils except Antrim, Down,
Londonderry and Armagh.

The reasons for the split were various, though the IRA did not
split in the North and pro- and anti-treaty republicans looked to
pro-treaty Michael
Collins for leadership and weapons. One of the principal
reasons for the split is usually described as the question of the
Oath of Allegiance to the Irish
Free State, which members of the new Dáil would be required to
take. It explicitly recognised that the Irish Free State would be
part of the British
Commonwealth and many republicans found that unacceptable. The
pro-treaty forces argued that the treaty gave "freedom to achieve
freedom". In the elections
of June 1922 in the southern twenty-six counties de Valera and
the anti-treaty Sinn Féin secured 35% of the popular vote. The
anti-treaty element of the IRA had formed an Executive that did not
consider itself subordinate to the new parliament.

Having temporarily suspended armed action in the Free State, the
movement split again with the departure (March 1926) of its leader
Éamon de Valera, after having
lost a motion to abandon abstention if the statement of "Fidelity
to the King" were abolished. He subsequently founded Fianna Fáil with fellow advocates of
participation in constitutional politics, and entered the Irish
parliament (Dáil Éireann) the
following year, forming a government in 1932.

1969–1970 Resurgence and "Provisional" / "Official" split

There were two splits in the Republican Movement in the period 1969
to 1970. One in December 1969 in the IRA, and the other in Sinn
Fein in January 1970.

The stated reason for the split in the IRA was ‘partition
parliaments’ however the division was the product of discussions in
the 1960s over the merits of political involvement as opposed to a
purely military strategy. The split came in December 1969 over the
downplaying of the role of the IRA and its inability in defending
the Nationalist population in Northern Ireland. One section of the
Army Council wanted to go down a purely political (Marxist) road,
and abandon armed struggle. IRA had been dabbed on the walls over
the north and was used to disparage the IRA, by writing beside it,
“I Ran Away.” Those in favour of a purely military strategy accused
the leadership of rigging the Army convention, held in December and
the vote on abandoning the policy of abstentionism and abandoning
the Nationalists.

In January 1970 at a reconvening of the Army council, the two
motions in December were overturned. It was then decided to set up
a provisional Army Council because it was intended to reconvene in
six months in order to regularise the IRA, when the term
provisional would be abandoned. The split in the Republican
Movement was completed on 11 January 1970, when at the Sinn Fein
Ard Fheis the proposal to drop abstention was put before the
members. The policy of abandoning abstentionism had to be passed by
a two-thirds majority to change the Party’s constitution.
Supporters of the Provisional Army Council made allegations of
malpractice, including voting by pro-Goulding supporters who were not entitled to
vote. When the vote was taken the result was 153 to 104 in favour.
The leadership had failed to achieve the two thirds majority. The
Leadership then attempted to propose a motion in support of the
(Goulding) IRA Army Council. This motion would only have required a
simple majority. As the (Goulding) IRA Army Council had already
agreed to drop abstentionism, this was seen by members as an
attempt to subvert the Parties Constitution, and refused to vote
and withdrew from the meeting. Pre-empting this move they had
booked a hall in 44 Parnell square, where they established a
“caretaker executive” of Sinn Fein. One section of the Party was
referred to as Sinn Fein (Gardiner Place) and the other as Sinn
Fein (Kevin Street), this came from the location of the opposing
offices.

1970s and 1980s

Despite the dropping of the word 'Provisional' at an Army
convention in September 1970, and becoming the dominant group, they
are still known 'to the mild irritation of senior members' as
Provisionals, Provos or Provies.According to Feeney, the
Provisionals were initially regarded by some, both inside and
outside the Republican movement. as "a dangerous, backward-looking
offshoot from a republican movement that had spent the best part of
ten years trying to jettison irredentist violence and rhetoric",
however within two years, these roles were reversed. People began
to flock to join the “Provos” and in an effort to reassert its
authority the Goulding section began to call itself “Official IRA”
and “Official Sinn Fein,” but to no avail. Within two years the
“Provos” had secured control of the Republican Movement. By 1972
the Officials both North and South, had become “a discredited rump,
themselves regarded as a faction by what was now the main body of
the movement.” It was from 1970 that the derisory term “Stickie”
for the Officials was coined.

Within ten years Sinn Fein would expand into a national movement
with branches in every town in Ireland, and command support
unparalleled since 1921. According to Danny Morrison, in the 1970s, “most
people wanted to join the IRA so people who went into Sinn Fein
were over military age or women.” A leading Sinn Fein organiser in
Belfast Patricia Davidson when asked what was Sinn Fein’s role at
the time she replied “Agitation and publicity.”

As the relations between the British Army and nationalists began to
break down, their behaviour in Nationalist areas, adopting
attitudes “appropriate to colonial disputes” Gerry Adams said “We
continued to prevent collaboration with the British forces…We
continued this low intensity agitation through the spring of
1970.”

A number of publications began to appear such as the “Barricade
Bulletin” in Derry, Sinn Fein members distributed bulletins with
titles such as “Phoenix” and “Vindicator” and the new republican
paper Republican News which was sold
door to door.

During this period Sinn Fein had no interest in electoral politics,
opposed to involvement in “partitionist elections” nevertheless
according to Feeney in working class areas there was politics with
a small ‘p.’ The British Army he said began to talk directly to IRA
commanders by-passing local politicians such as John Hume and Gerry
Fitt who carried no weight behind the barricades. Sinn Fein members
would then relay the information to the people door to door. These
same Sinn Fein members having built up reputations in the area
would ten years later be elected with massive votes by people
according to Feeney who they “helped and worked among in the
difficult times.”

Political activity began in 1973 when Sinn Fein opened the
Republican Press Centre which was run by Tom
Hartley in 170 Falls Road. This was “the first expression of a
republican point of view anywhere in Ireland outside Dublin…”
according to Jim Gibney. It was from 1973 that the British and
Irish governments began to move towards the negotiations leading to
the Sunningdale Agreement.
Sinn Fein however was still illegal, and it was not till May 1974
that Merlyn Rees secretary of state
under a Labour government legalised the Party. According to Feeney
on 16 August 1975 Gerry Adams wrote his first article for
Republican News, and from 1976 Adams then used the paper to
advocate greater political involvement. This coincided with
developments in the prisons from 1976 to 1978, supporting this
view. In Long Kesh the prisoners discussed
“communication with the base of our support, the role of
newspapers, bulletins, co-ops, tenants associations and women’s
organisations as a means of empowering people.”

Sinn Fein began to organise housing associations, community
associations and tenant associations across both the North and the
South, building a stronger developing network. It was at this time
that the plight of the prisoners began to become an issue. The
deteriorating conditions in the prison was an issue which people
could support regardless of whether they supported Sinn Fein or the
armed struggle of the IRA. This lead to the establishment of the
National H-Block / Armagh Committee making
it as broad an appeal as possible.

Events however would move control from Sinn Fein to the prisoners.
By 1980 some of the prisoners had been “on the blanket” protest for
four years and the “dirty protest” for two. In the autumn of 1980
the prisoners took the decision to go on hunger strike which was
greeted by some within the Republican Movement with consternation.
The IRA Army Council was no longer in complete control, and would
never fully recover control as the plight of the prisoners would
now drive the whole movement.

The first hunger strike would end by December 1980 with
recriminations between both the British government and the IRA. The
prisoners felt that they had been tricked, and resolved to go on
hunger strike again. The Officer Commanding of IRA prisoners,
Bobby Sands stood down as OC having
decided he would lead the hunger strike. He began his hunger strike
on 1 March 1981, which was the fifth anniversary of the removal of
Special Category
Status.

On the 6 March the Member of
Parliament for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Frank Maguire died. It was decided to put
Bobby Sands forward as a candidate. Sands was elected with 30, 492
votes, 51%. This result would change everything according to
Feeney, the election result he said made it impossible for the
British government to convincingly argue that Sands and his fellow
hunger strikers were mere criminals. Sands died on 5 May 1981, with
over 100,000 people walking behind his coffin, which included
dignitaries from Europe and further afield, the Iranian ambassador
along with representatives of the Catholic church and the SDLP.
Sands death caused another by-election and Sands election agent
Owen Carron went forward, both hold the
seat and increasing the vote achieved by Sands. According to
Feeney, many republicans suddenly wanted to fight every
election.

A split occured in 1986 over to end its policy of abstentionism and
to allow elected Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála take their seats in Dáil
Éireann, This led to the formation of Republican Sinn Féin

Links with the IRA

Sinn Féin is the largest group in the Republican wing of Irish nationalism and is closely
associated with the IRA, with the Irish
Government alleging that senior members of Sinn Féin have held
posts on the IRA Army Council.
However the SF leadership has denied these claims.

A republican document of the early 1980s states, "Both Sinn Féin
and the IRA play different but converging roles in the war of
national liberation. The Irish Republican Army wages an armed
campaign... Sinn Féin maintains the propaganda war and is the
public and political voice of the movement".

The current British Government
stated in 2005 that "we had always said all the way through we
believed that Sinn Féin and the IRA were inextricably linked and
that had obvious implications at leadership level".

The robbery of £26.5 million
from the Northern Bank in Belfast in
December 2004 further scuppered chances of a deal. The IRA were
blamed for the robbery though Sinn Féin denied this and stated that
party officials had not known of the robbery nor sanctioned it.
Because of the timing of the robbery it is considered that the
plans for the robbery must have been laid whilst Sinn Féin was
engaged in talks about a possible peace settlement. This undermined
confidence within the unionist
community about the sincerity of republicans towards reaching
agreement. In the aftermath of the row over the robbery,
a further controversy erupted when, on RTÉ's Questions and Answers
programme, the chairman of Sinn Féin, Mitchel McLaughlin, insisted that the
IRA's controversial killing of a mother of ten young children,
Jean McConville, in the early 1970s
though "wrong", was not a crime, as it had taken place in the
context of the political conflict. Politicians from the
Republic, along with the Irish media strongly attacked McLaughlin's
comments.

On 10 February 2005, the government-appointed Independent Monitoring
Commission reported that it firmly supported the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) and Garda assessments that the IRA was
responsible for the Northern Bank robbery and that certain senior
members of Sinn Féin were also senior members of the IRA and would
have had knowledge of and given approval to the carrying out of the
robbery. Sinn Féin have argued that the IMC is not independent and
the inclusion of former Alliance Party Leader
John Alderdice and a British security
head was proof of this. It recommended further financial sanctions
against Sinn Féin members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The
British government responded by saying it would ask MPs to vote to
withdraw the parliamentary allowances of the four Sinn Féin MPs
elected in 2001.

Gerry Adams responded to the IMC report
by challenging the Irish Government to have him arrested for IRA
membership, a "crime" in both jurisdictions, and conspiracy.

On 27 February 2005, a demonstration against the murder of Robert McCartney on 30
January 2005 was held in East Belfast. Alex
Maskey, a former Sinn Féin Mayor of
Belfast, was told by relatives of McCartney to demand that
Maskey "hand over the 12" IRA members involved. The McCartney
family, though formerly Sinn Féin voters themselves, urged
witnesses to the crime to contact the PSNI. Three IRA men were
expelled from the organisation, and a man was charged with
McCartney's murder.

Irish TaoiseachBertie Ahern subsequently called Sinn Féin and
the IRA "both sides of the same coin". The ostracism of Sinn Féin
was shown in February 2005 when Dáil Éireann passed a motion
condemning the party's alleged involvement in illegal activity. US
President George W.Bush and Senator Edward Kennedy refused to meet Gerry Adams while
meeting the family of Robert McCartney.

On 10
March 2005, the British House of Commons in London passed
without significant opposition a motion placed by the British
Government to withdraw the allowances of the four Sinn Féin MPs for
one year in response to the Northern Bank Robbery. This
measure cost the party approximately £400,000. However, the debate
prior to the vote mainly surrounded the more recent events
connected with the murder of Robert McCartney. Conservatives and
Unionists put down amendments to have the Sinn Féin MPs evicted
from their offices at the House of Commons but these were
defeated.

In March
2005, Mitchell Reiss, the United States special envoy to Northern Ireland, condemned the
party's links to the IRA, saying "it is hard to understand how
a European country in the year 2005 can have a private army
associated with a political party".

Organisational structure

Féin is organised throughout Ireland, and membership is open to all
Irish residents over the age of 16. The party is organised
hierarchically into cumainn (branches), comhairle ceantair
(district executives), cúigí (regional executives). At national
level, the Coiste Seasta (Standing Committee) oversees the
day-to-day running of Sinn Féin. It is an eight-member body
nominated by the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle and also includes the
chairperson of each cúige. The Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle (National
Executive) meets at least once a month. It directs the overall
implementation of Sinn Féin policy and activities of the
party.

The Ard Chomhairle also oversees the operation of various
departments of Sinn Féin, viz Administration, Finance, National
Organiser, Campaigns, Ógra
Shinn Féin, Women's Forum, Culture, Publicity and International
Affairs. It is made up of the following: Officer Board and nine
other members, all of whom are elected by delegates to the Ard
Fheis, fifteen representing the five Cúige regions (three delegates
each). The Ard Chomhairle can co-opt eight members for specific
posts and additional members can be co-opted, if necessary, to
ensure that at least thirty per cent of Ard Chomhairle members are
women.

The ard fheis (national delegate conference) is the ultimate
policy-making body of the party where delegates - directly elected
by members of cumainn - can decide on and implement policy. It is
held at least once a year but a special Ard Fheis can be called by
the Ard Chomhairle or the membership under special
circumstances.

Electoral performances 1982–1992

In the 1982
Assembly elections, Sinn Féin won five seats with 64,191 votes
(10.1%). The party narrowly missed winning additional seats in
Belfast North
and Fermanagh and
South Tyrone. In the 1983 Westminster elections eight months
later saw an increase in Sinn Féin support with the party breaking
the hundred thousand vote barrier for the first time by polling
102,701 votes (13.4%). Gerry Adams won the Belfast West
constituency with Danny Morrison only 78 votes short of victory in
Mid
Ulster.

The 1984 European elections
proved to be a disappointment with Sinn Féin's candidate Danny
Morrison polling 91,476 (13.3%) and falling well behind the SDLP
candidate John Hume.

By the beginning of 1985 Sinn Féin had won their first
representation on local councils due to three by-election wins in
Omagh (Seamus Kerr, May 1983) and Belfast (Alex Maskey in June 1983 and Sean McKnight in
early 1984). Three sitting councillors also defected to Sinn Féin
in Dungannon, Fermanagh and Derry (the last defecting from the
SDLP). Sinn Féin succeeded in winning 59 seats in the 1985 local government
elections, however the results continued to show a decline from
the peak of 1983 as the party won 75,686 votes (11.8%). The party
failed to gain any seats in the 1986 by-elections caused
by the resignation of Unionist MPs in protest at the Anglo-Irish
Agreement, partly this was due to an electoral pact between
Unionist candidates, however the SF vote fell in the four
constituencies they contested.

In the 1987 election Gerry Adams held his Belfast West seat but the
party elsewhere failed to make breakthroughs and overall polled
83,389 votes (11.4%). The same year saw the party contest the Dáil
election in the Republic of Ireland, however they failed to win any
seats and polled less than 2%.

The
1989 local
government elections came in the aftermath of a number of IRA
attacks most notably the Remembrance Day bombing and saw a drop in support for SF. Defending
58 seats (the 59 won in 1985 plus two 1987 by-election gains in
West Belfast minus three councillors who had defected to Republican
Sinn Féin in 1986) the party lost 15 seats. In the aftermath of the
election Mitchell McLaughlin admitted that recent IRA activity had
affected the Sinn Féin vote.

The nadir for SF in this period came in 1992, with Gerry Adams
losing his Belfast West seat to the SDLP and the SF vote falling in
the other constituencies that they had contested relative to
1987.

The Peace Process

Multi-party negotiations began in 1994, without Sinn Féin. The
Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire
in the autumn of 1994. The Conservative government had asked
that the IRA decommission all of their weapons before Sinn Féin be
admitted to the talks, but the Labour government of Tony Blair let them in on the basis of the
ceasefire.

Good Friday Agreement

The talks led to the Good
Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998 (officially known as
the Belfast Agreement), which set up an inclusive devolved
government in the North, and altered the Southern government's
constitutional claim to the whole island in Articles 2 and 3
of the Constitution of Ireland. The party has been fully
committed to constitutional politics since the Good Friday
Agreement, although the unionist demand that the IRA decommission
all of its arms led to repeated suspensions of the Assembly.

The party expelled Denis Donaldson,
a party official, in December 2005, with him stating publicly that
he had been in the employ of the British government as an agent
since the 1980s. Mr Donaldson told reporters that the British
security agencies who employed him were behind the collapse of the
Assembly and set up Sinn Féin to take the blame for it, a claim
disputed by the British Government. Donaldson was found fatally shot in his
home in County
Donegal on 4 April 2006, and a murder inquiry was
launched. In April 2009, the "Real IRA" released a statement
taking responsibility for the killing.

When Sinn Féin and the DUP became the largest parties, it was clear
that no deal could be made without the support of both parties.
They nearly reached a deal in November 2004, but the DUP had a
requirement for visible evidence that decommissioning had been
carried out.

On 2 September 2006, Martin McGuinness publicly stated that Sinn
Féin would refuse to participate in a shadow assembly at Stormont,
asserting that his party would only take part in negotiations that
were aimed at restoring a power-sharing government within Northern
Ireland. This development follows a decision on the part of members
of Sinn Féin to refrain from participating in debates since the
Assembly's recall this past May. The relevant parties to these
talks have been given a deadline of 24 November 2006 in order to
decide upon whether or not they will ultimately form the
executive.

On 28 January 2007, a Sinn Féin Ard Fheis was held and its
delegates voted overwhelmingly to support the PSNI. This ended an
86 year boycott of policing in Northern Ireland. This decision
means that Sinn Féin members will sit on Policing Boards and
District Policing Partnerships. The decision has received welcome
although, some opposition has been evident from people such as
former IRA prisoner Gerry McGeough,
who stood in the 2007 Assembly
Election against Sinn Féin in the assembly constituency of
Fermanagh and South
Tyrone.

Electoral performances 2000s

Northern Ireland

The party overtook its nationalist rival, the Social Democratic and Labour
Party as the largest nationalist party in the 2001 Westminster General
Election and Local Election,
winning four Westminster seats to the SDLP's three. The party
however continues to subscribe to an abstentionist policy towards seats in the
Westminster British parliament, as taking the seats they won would
require them to swear allegiance to the British monarchy and
recognise British jurisdiction over Northern Ireland.

Local government

Sinn Féin is represented on most county and city councils. They
made large gains in the local elections of 2004,
increasing the number of councillors from 21 to 54, and replacing
the Progressive Democrats as
the fourth largest party in local government. At the most recent
local elections held in June 2009, the party's vote fell by 0.95%
to 7.34%, with a net loss of one seat.

At the next European
election in 2009, Dublin's representation was reduced to three
MEPs. The contest was further complicated by the candidature of
Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party and of the former
Green MEP, McKenna. A collapse in the vote of the government
parties (Fianna Fáil and the Greens) was thought to be enough to
re-elect McDonald, who would benefit from the transfers of Higgins
and McKenna on their elimination. In the event Sinn Féin's first
preferences fell to 47,928, (11.79%) and McDonald slipped to fifth
place behind Higgins, who was elected at the expense of both the
sitting Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil MEPs.

In 1970, there was another split, with one faction calling
itself "Official Sinn Féin", and later Sinn Féin, the Workers Party
(1982), before settling on the Workers Party (1982).The
other faction was dubbed by media sources as "Provisionals" or
"Provo's".Within two years the “Provos” secured control
of the Republican Movement.

Sinn Féin proposes a draft Irish Language Bill for the North
(Northern Ireland), a Bill that would give the Irish Language the
same status that the Welsh language has in Wales.

Support for the Basque people's right to self determination,
and opposition to the US blockade of Cuba

A vast majority of their policies are intended to be implemented on
an 'all-Ireland' basis which further emphasises their central aim
of creating a united Ireland.

Sinn Féin usually refers to itself as a democratic socialist or left-wing party and aligns itself with the
European
United Left–Nordic Green Left. The party pledges support for
minority rights, migrants' rights, and eradicating poverty,
although it is not in favour of the extension of legalized abortion
(British 1967 Act) to Northern Ireland. Though Sinn Féin state they
are also opposed to the attitudes in society, which "pressurise
women" to have abortions, and "criminalise" women who make this
decision. Sinn Féin do recognize however that in cases of incest,
rape, sexual abuse, or when a woman's life and health are at risk
or in danger, that the final decision must rest with the
woman.

Sinn Féin urged a "No" vote in the referendum held in Ireland on 12
June 2008 on the Lisbon Treaty.

Sinn Féin are opposed to what they term "the illegal occupation of
Palestine by Israel."

Notes

There has been a number of books to mark the 100 anniversary of
the Party in addition to the Parties own publication Sinn Féin:
A Century of Struggle, (2005), ISBN 0 9542946 1 0 ,published
by Parnell Publications and edited by Micheal MacDonncha (former
editor on An
Phoblacht). They included Sinn Féin, 1905-2005: in the
shadow of gunmen, by Kevin Rafter and published by Gill &
Macmillan, (2005), ISBN 9780717139927 and Sinn Féin: a hundred
turbulent years, by Brian Feeney, published by University of
Wisconsin Press, (2003), ISBN 9780299186746

Thomas Stanislaus Cleary, in 1882 wrote a play entitled
Shin Fain; or Ourselves Alone. T.M. Healy a
decade later referred to 'the good old watch-word of old
Ireland-Shin Fain-ourselves alone.' cite: Míchael Laffan,
The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party 1916-1923,
Cambridge University Press (2005), ISBN 0 521 67267 8, pg.20

Thomas Davis was the author
of a ballad titled "Ourselves Alone" which appeared in
Spirit of the Nation in 1843. Máire de Buitléir in 1904
coined the term Sinn Féin "Ourselves" in English, echoing Davis's
refain. cite:Robert Welch, The Oxford Companion to
Irish Literature, Clarendon Press (2001), ISBN 0198661584
9780198661580, pg.526

Bew & Gillespie (1993), pp.24-5: Two leading
commentators on the Provisionals noted: ‘The nomenclature, with its
echoes of the 1916 rebels’ provisional government of the Irish
Republic, reflected the delegates’ belief that the irregularities
surrounding the extraordinary convention rendered it null and void.
Any decisions it took were revokable. They proposed to call another
convention within twelve months to ‘resolve the leadership of the
movement. Until this happened they regarded themselves as a
provisional organisation. Ten months later, after the September
1970 Army Council meeting, a statement was issued declaring that
the “provisional” period was now officially over, but by then the,
name had stuck fast.’ (Bishop and Mallie, p.137)

Ellis (2004), p.281

Feeney (2002), p.252; Ferriter (2005), p.624

The name came about when the Officials decided to wear an
adhesive backed paper badge of the Easter Lily, a commemorative
symbol for the 1916 Easter Rising instead of the traditional
pinning it on coat lapels